


"AT THE END OF THE ROAD, I FINALLY FOUND YOU”

by The_Cynical_Nerd



Series: THE FAMILY BUSINESS: A RETELLING [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abandonment, Alternate Universe, Angst, Badass, Big Sisters, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Dean Winchester Being an Asshole, Drama, Emotional Baggage, Family, Family Drama, Family Reunions, Family Secrets, Fights, Forgiveness, Gen, Guilt, Hunters & Hunting, Hurt Dean Winchester, Little Brothers, Love, Monsters, Older Sister, Other, Protective Siblings, Regret, Sam Winchester Fixes Things, Siblings, Vampires, What-If, Winchester Sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-11-29 00:45:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18215897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Cynical_Nerd/pseuds/The_Cynical_Nerd
Summary: Dean and Sam are reunited with their older sister after more than ten years, soon after John's death.One of them doesn't want anything to do with her, while the other just wants to understand why she left, when they were kids.As for Jess, all she wants is to be part of their lifes again, now that she has found them.It's time to unravel secrets hidden in the past, to prove them that sometimes memories can be deceitful and to make them realize that maybe "daddy dearest" was not as good as he seemed.Will they manage to remember what it felt like to be a family, despite all the time spent apart?And will they be able to keep fighting against what lurks in the dark while trying to learn how to love each other once again?PLEASE, read the notes for more info about the character and the plot!All comments are more than welcome!^^





	1. "How did we get to this, brother?"

It was just another rainy winter Monday morning in Sioux Falls and a very cold wind was blowing over the area, howling like a wounded dog and shaking the trees.  
When the woman walked out the door of the small shop at the gas station right outside town, trying to open up a bag of chips using both hands and holding up her phone between her shoulder and her right ear, she was looking pretty annoyed.  
"What do you mean that I can't come over, Bobby? Why not?" she asked to the man she was currently talking to, frowning "I haven't been around here for, like, a year... and now you're telling me that I can't pass by? Come on!"  
She mentally cursed when a gust of wind blew her dark hair over her face, making her shut both eyes for a moment and forcing her to give up on her attempt to open up the snack.  
So she tucked the chips in the pocket of her leather jacket and she used one hand to push back the hair, while grabbing the phone properly with the other one, starting to walk toward her bike.  
"Listen, I'm not saying you can't, you'll just have to wait a couple of days, okay?" Bobby Singer told her for the second time, even more grumpy that usual "Right now I'm kinda busy, it's not a good moment to pay me a visit. You could stay at that little motel in town, it's a nice place, they told me." he suggested, doing his best to sound convincing and trying to avoid any protest.  
He knew how stubborn that girl could be and, especially since he was blatantly lying to her, he really hoped that using a harsh voice tone would help him hiding the fact that he was feeling super uncomfortable at the moment: man, he hated that whole situation!  
Sadly for him, it didn't seem to work.

She huffed in irritation.  
"If I didn't know you like I do, I would say that you're trying to keep me away for some reason." she went on, taking a look around while leaving the sheltered area of the gas station, stepping into the parking lot, under the light rain that was keep pouring down "If you're caught up in some weird hunter crap, just tell me and I can..."  
The conversation was abruptly interrupted for a brief moment, when the woman suddenly stopped, noticing the vintage black chevy just a few yards across from her.  
"Wait a second, I know that car. It can't be..." she then whispered, more to herself than to him.  
And that was enough to alarm the man, since she was now sounding almost shocked, like if she had just seen something capable of leaving her speechless.  
"What's going on?" Bobby asked immediately "You okay?"  
"I gotta go. I'll call you later."  
And just like that, she hung up.

Tucking the cellphone into the other pocket, she cautiously moved toward the man who had just finished to fill up the tank of the old vehicle, humming something that sounded like a rock ballad while doing so.  
He was broad and quite fit, wearing jeans and dark red flannel, with short hair.  
He was looking the other way, probably waiting for someone, so she could only see his wide back at first, but the way he was tapping his hand on the car's roof, following the rhythm of the song he was singing to himself was way too familiar to ignore.  
She couldn't believe it.  
Was that really possible, after all that time?

"Dean?" she called that name for the first time in years with a cracked voice, even if inside her mind that same name was echoing like a powerful scream, as he turned his head to look at her.  
His green eyes met the woman's hazel ones and it only took him a second to realize who she was: they hadn't seen each other in more than ten years, but how could he not recognize his own sister?  
"Jess?" he seemed to ask for an unnecessary confirmation, now looking at her in a puzzled way..  
She slowly nodded and so, all of a sudden, a million thoughts exploded inside Dean's mind like fireworks.  
Was she really standing there, in front of him?  
She was no longer taller than him, he noticed, in a rush of childish satisfaction.  
But her wavy chocolate-colored hair was still the same and the shape of her face had not changed at all; she was still looking a lot more like Sam, than like him or dad.  
"Oh my God, Dean..." she spoke again, taking a step closer, lifting up a hand like if she wanted to touch him and make sure he was not an illusion, but fearing at the same time that it was all just a dream.  
Her shoulders started to shake a little and Jess felt the first tears forming at the corners of her eyes, while the rain was keep falling down from the gray sky above them.  
The powerful urge of hugging him became too strong to fight it, at that point and so she instinctively moved to fill up the distance between them, ready to hold him tight, like she used to do when he was a kid.  
She had waited so long for that!  
The only problem was that, apparently, they were not on the same page.

Dean took a big step back, his whole body tensing up in a nervous way, his face immediately turning into a mask of pure disdain, and that was enough to make her stop in her track, almost like if he had slapped her in the face.  
There was such anger in his eyes and he was pressing his lips together so hard that they were losing color.  
"What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped right after, staring at her like if she was a total stranger or, even worse, some kind of dangerous enemy "What do you want?!"  
Jess gaped for a couple of seconds, not sure about what to do and deeply hurt by his reaction.  
"I...I was going to... to see Bobby." she managed to put a few words together, still looking at him and trying to figure out what was going on.  
Why was he behaving like that?  
Why wasn't he happy to see her, after all that time apart?  
It didn't make any sense.  
"Dean, why are you doing this?" the woman then asked him, swallowing the lump in her throat "It's me. Why are you so mad? I don't get it."  
"Oh, really?!" again he growled at her: the grimace on his face was now even worse than before "You left us, without saying goodbye, without a note. You threw us away like trash and now you just pop here, out of the blue, after ten fucking years, thinking that it's okay to play family?!"  
The rage in his voice felt like an icy blade right through the heart and she gave him a pleading look.  
"What are you talking about?" she inquired "I would have never done that! How can you even think that?"  
And then, it hit her.  
It only took her a moment to put all the pieces in place, but that moment felt like a lifetime and when Jess realized what the truth was, she could not repress an angry sob.  
Fucking. John. Winchester.  
Of course.  
"...this is what he told you, isn't it?" she guessed.  
The woman heard her own voice starting to raise.  
Dean was not the only enraged Winchester around now, not anymore.  
"How could someone be such a dick with his own children, I'll never understand." she spat out those words with disgust "Where is that sneaky bastard now?!"  
"He's gone." Dean answered through his teeth. He was still grieving and her words felt just like salt on an open wound.  
"Gone?"  
"He's dead." the man snarled.  
Jess froze for a second: that was some unexpected news.  
"...when? What happened?" she inquired soon after.  
"Like you care." was the only answer she got.  
"I do. He ruined my life, but he was still my father." she snapped back "But i can see that he did a great work with you, he completely brainwashed you. You really think that I gave up on you! He made you believe that I simply walked away from you and..."

"Dean, what's going on?" another male voice interrupted her.  
Both her and the other man turned their faces to look at the tall guy who had just joined them and who was now staring at Jess like if he had seen a ghost, a small plastic bag full of snacks dangling from his right hand.  
"...Jess?" he recognized her almost immediately, while she needed a few second to realize that that giant with long hair and puppy eyes in front of her was the very same kid she had tucked into bed hundreds of times, in the past.  
Her heart skipped a beat and this time the tears really started to roll down her cheeks.  
She covered up her mouth with her right hand for a moment, letting out a muffled little cry.  
"Sammy..." she whispered.  
Once again, Jess tried to approach one of her siblings, wishing nothing more than to hold him, even if now a part of her mind was terrified that he would react just like Dean and push her away.  
But unlike his brother, Sam was quick to open up his arms, letting the bag fall on the ground, and he surrounded her whole torso with them, embracing her like if he didn't want to let go ever again.  
"JESS!" he called her name again, this time louder, squeezing her slim figure in a tight but gentle grip and she couldn't avoid thinking about how big and strong his arms felt around her body.  
He was 11 the last time she had hugged him and back then he was nothing but a scrawny little kid, way shorter than her.  
Now he was there, towering over her like that and it was such a strange feeling.

Dean stood there, watching the scene with a scowl on his face, fighting the impulse to grab Sam and drag him away.  
The rational little voice in his mind knew that his brother was an adult and that he was free to do what he wanted, but at the same time he was feeling so betrayed: how could Sam react like that, after what she had done to them?  
And why he was not protesting about being called "Sammy", like he had done with him, when he went to pick him up at Stanford?  
He had bitched about the nickname for weeks, complaining that he was too old for that, but it was okay if she was the one calling him that?  
It was just a stupid little detail, he was aware of it, but for some reason it was bothering him like... a lot.  
"Are you done with this crappy love reunion?" after a couple of seconds, he couldn't resist anymore and he snapped at them, glaring at the woman like if she was nothing more than an unpleasant problem to be solved as soon as possible "Sam, stop acting like a moron and get into the car!"  
"Dean!" Sam protested.  
Both him and Jess turned to look at the middle Winchester, parting from one another, and the woman threw him a devastated glance, which made Dean suddenly feel both unsure and confused about his feelings.  
He was mad at her.  
He was furious.  
Hell, he had spent many years convincing himself that he hated her!  
But now that she was there, in front of them, with glossy eyes and and trembling lips, he had to admit to himself that a part of him desperately wanted to hold her tight, despite everything.  
Especially now that dad was gone and that he had just won Sam back: family was the only thing he had left and it was all that mattered.  
Still, his Ego was stronger than that feeling and all the time they had spent apart had damaged their relationship so bad, that he simply couldn't accept what was going on.  
He didn't know what to do with all that.  
Monsters were one thing. He was good with them. He knew how to deal with them.  
But feelings? Hugs, love and sweet talks?  
That was not his thing. At all.

"Dean, listen to me." she tried again to reach out for him, but once more the shorter man shook his head from side to side in a silent "no".  
"I don't want to listen a single word and I have nothing to say to you." he told her, before looking at their brother "Sam, get your ass into the car or i swear that I'll leave you here."  
"Dean, this is insane." Sam tried to make him see reason, his eyes moving back and forth, from Dean to Jess, like if he was watching a tennis match "We don't know what happened, we should hear her out. We can't just drive away."  
The other man opened up the driver door, letting out a bitter little laugh.  
"Watch me." he said, entering the car and slamming that same door close right after.  
A second later, the loud sound of the Impala engine filled the air: he was not bluffing and that was enough to make Sam panic.  
"What are you doing?" he exclaimed, trying to open up Dean's door, only to find it locked.  
Sam looked at Jess, biting his bottom lip in a frustrated way, thinking fast and trying to decide what he should do.  
He could understand why Dean was acting so harshly but at the same time he really wanted to make things right and to give their sister the chance to explain herself.  
Sadly, there was no way to force his brother to calm down, at the moment: he knew him too well to even think that he could make him get off the car, now.  
So, after a moment, he took a deep breath and he picked up the bag from the floor, before stretching out a hand to swiftly squeeze Jess' shoulder.  
"I have to go. I'll talk with him, okay? I promise." he quickly told her "Stay in town, Jess. Please. I'll fix this."  
Said that, Sam let her go and he walked around the car, to go and join Dean on the front seat, still looking at the crying woman who was now standing there with both arms limp, still as a statue.  
"Sammy, I never meant to leave you and Dean." was all she managed to say, feeling absolutely powerless "You have to believe me."  
"I really want to. Just... give me some time." Sam concluded, opening up the door on his side of the Impala and then finally getting in.

The tires screeched against the pavement as the car left the gas station way too fast and the youngest Winchester checked the rear"view mirror, as the reflection of Jess was getting smaller and smaller while they were leaving her behind.  
She was looking so heartbroken and defeated, alone in the rain, that Sam almost started to feel sick.  
He had to do something, no matter how much it would upset Dean.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was still raining, even worse than before, and everything was looking a little blurred from behind the windshield.  
Dean was keeping both hands on the wheel, grasping it so hard that his knuckles were almost white, and he was staring at the road with narrowed eyes, driving toward Bobby's place.  
Sam had never seen him so pissed off.  
But, to be honest, his brother was not the only one in a terrible mood.

"What the fuck was that, Dean?" he blurted out, throwing a very annoyed glance at the driver "You didn't let her say a word! She shows up after almost twelve years and you react like that? What is wrong with you?!"  
"With me?!" Dean widened his eyes, looking at Sam for a moment "You were literally ready to let her braid you hair while singing "Kum ba yah" and you ask ME what is wrong?! She ditched us!"  
"Or maybe she didn't, you heard what she said. That's just what Dad told us."  
"And that's good enough for me, Sam. It should be enough for you too!" Dean yelled at him.  
Sam frowned.  
"Sure, because Dad never lied to us or anyone else, right?"  
Apparently his older brother didn't had any snappy answer for that and so the taller man took advantage of his moment of silence to speak again.  
"Listen, there could be another side of the story that we don't know about, okay? Dad had his secrets, you know that. What if something happened between him and Jess, back then?" he tried to calm down and started to use a more soothing voice tone to help the other man focus on his words "I think that we should at least give her a chance. It's our only sister and, like or not, she's family."  
Dean let out something that sounded like a growl.  
"She WAS family."  
"No, she still is. And you're just being a total jerk." Sam added, folding arms over his chest and turning to look outside his window "If you really want to play it this way, fine, be my guest. But tomorrow I'll go look for her."  
"As you wish, little brother. Go and waste your time while I work my ass off." Dean huffed "That's your specialty, after all."  
"Screw you, Dean."  
"Just shut the fuck up, Sam. Let me drive."

The younger one frowned even more: his brother could be a royal asshole, when he wanted to be.  
But he had never met anyone more stubborn than him.  
He decided there was no point in keep arguing about the matter, at the moment: it was probably better to wait and try to solve the problem in another way, once they had both cooled off.  
So Sam simply kept his mouth shut and he kept looking outside, while a multitude of thoughts were spinning in his mind.  
Little did he know that, despite his current attitude, Dean was feeling just as lost and confused as his sibling.

 

\-----------------------------  
\-----------------------------

The second chapter will arrive very soon, probably within a day or so, and we will have a nice heart to heart between Sam and Jess^^

Please, comment if you liked it... or even if you hated it, LOL.  
Let me know what I can improve!


	2. "Catching up"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Dean is adamant in his decision and he keeps acting like he doesn't care, Sam and Jess have a little chat.  
> There is a lot to talk about, after so many years...
> 
>  
> 
> All comments are more than welcome!^^

Around noon the rain had slowly stopped falling down and now the sky was clearing out, the heavy clouds carried away by the wind.  
Hoping to relax a little, Bobby had let himself fall on his favorite armchair, just a bunch of minutes before that someone suddenly started to pound hard on his door, destroying his hopes for a quiet evening.  
"Balls..." he grumbled, standing back up and heading to the entrance.  
The man opened up the door already knowing who was on the other side, so he didn't pretend to be surprised when he found Jess staring back at him.  
She was showing the most determined expression he had ever seen on anybody's face.  
"I know they're here." she stated, pretty harshly.  
He sighed. There was no point on denying it.  
"The boy won't talk to you, Jess." the man told her, while moving aside so she could walk in "But it's not really my business, so..."  
"The boy should grow up." was her answer "Where is he?"  
"Outside, drinking beer, tinkering with the car and pretending everything's fine."  
Now it was her time to sigh: Dean had never been good at dealing with emotional stress, even when he was kid.  
"And Sammy?"  
"Upstairs, I think. I'll get him."  
"Thanks, Bobby."  
"Yeah, yeah..." leaving the room to go look for the younger Winchester, he waved a hand toward her like if he was shooing a fly, mumbling something to himself: it was his grumpy way of telling her it was not a big deal.

So, the woman moved to the kitchen, passing through the living room, taking off her jacket and throwing it on the couch like if she was at her own place.  
She had spent a lot of time there, during the last few years, so she felt comfortable enough to roam the house as she pleased.  
Jess reached the nearest window and she took a look outside: Dean had parked the Impala not so far from the porch and he was checking something under the car's hood, an half empty bottle of beer forgotten on the roof.  
She couldn't see his face from there, so after a moment she took a deep breath and she walked toward the back door, exiting to the porch right after.  
"If it's having problems, I could help." she said, loud enough to be heard but trying to use a friendly voice tone, despite everything "I've always been good with engines."  
Her brother immediately looked up and he threw her a pretty hostile glance.  
He seemed ready for a fight, she thought.  
But he also had a huge oil stain on his left cheek and, for some reason, that reminded her of a much younger version of Dean, with his face covered in chocolate milk: a picture from the past.  
She did her best to push back a little smile, forcing herself to keep up a serious face, even if it costed her a lot.

"You followed us?" he snarled at her.  
"No, but I was pretty sure that I would find you here." she answered him, now walking down the few steps that separated the porch from the ground "You're the reason Bobby was so edgy this morning. I only had to put two and two together."  
Dean snorted like an annoyed old dog.  
"Yeah, well... I don't need any help anyway, so you can leave. You did it before and you know what they say, practice makes perfect."  
Jess did her best not to yell at him and she tried to reason once more, slowly walking toward him, hoping that if she could get close enough for him to look right into her eyes, maybe things would get easier.  
"I didn't leave." she repeated "John ditched me. He tricked me so I would stay away for a couple of days, working on a job and when I came back, the three of you were gone."  
Dean frowned, staring at her.  
"Bullshit."  
"Why would I lie?" she asked him, feeling more and more frustrated by the second.  
"I don't know, Jess. Maybe because people lie all the time? Or maybe because you need something from us. I have no idea, but what I know is that I don't give a crap about it!"  
"Oh, for heaven's sake, Dean!" the woman let out an irritated groan "Why won't you just listen to me for a minute? I have no reason to make up a story. It wasn't my fault, it was John who..."  
"Stop calling Dad by his fucking name!" he interrupted her, in a burst of anger, stepping away from her and moving to the other side of the car so she couldn't get too much close.  
"I will call him as I please. No decent father would do what he did to me, so forgive me if I don't care about his "title"." Jess answered, still trying to approach him and causing Dean to move again, walking around the Impala like if it could protect him "And can you stop running away from me? What are we, Tom & Jerry, chasing one another around a table?!"  
"Just leave me alone, Jess. It's too late to fix this, can't you see it?" he told her, refusing to listen to her words "Dad's dead and yeah, maybe he was not the best parent in the world, but you really expect me to believe that he abandoned you? You wanted out of that life, I know you did. So, as far as I can tell, you simply decided to walk away. And I will not stand here looking how you spit on his grave."  
"You don't want to hear me out because you're scared that what I say could be true." she accused him, now stopping and giving up on her attempt of getting closer.

Her brother gave her one murderous look, keeping his mouth shut for a second.  
Dean's mind was trying to process the information she had been giving him, even if he didn't like any of it.  
But she was right about the fact that he was in denial, he knew that.  
The mere idea that their father could have done such a thing was simply too much for him to swallow, especially now that John had sacrificed himself to bring him back from death.  
How could they be talking about the same man?  
John had made mistakes in his life, sure, but letting down his only daughter like that?  
Dean could not believe it.  
He didn't WANT to believe it!  
So, his mind simply decided to ignore that possibility.  
"You know what? Whatever." he shrugged, going back to wear his most neutral face "Now I'm going to take a long shower and when I come back, I really hope I won't find you here anymore."  
Jess sighed sadly, watching him march away.  
"I wouldn't count on that, if I were you." was all she said to him, while Dean turned around the corner, disappearing behind one the many piles of metal junk scattered in the yard.  
He had always been stubborn as a mule, she knew that very well, but she could be just as hardheaded as he was, if needed.

"Hey..." once more, a much softer voice interrupted her thoughts, just like at the gas station.  
Jess turned around and she found Sam standing on the porch, looking down at her, with both arms laying limp against his body, like if he didn't really knew what to do with himself.  
"Sammy." she smiled at him and the younger man seemed to smile back, even if he did it a bit awkwardly.  
"...uhm, I was planning to make some coffee..." he told her a second later "...if you want some, I could make an extra cup, I mean..."  
Jess' smile grew wider.  
"I would love that."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When the sun started to hide behind the horizon, painting the sky red and the clouds pink, Sam and Jess were still sitting at the small table in Bobby's kitchen, a couple of empty cups between them.  
The light entering the window was hitting the jars and the other stuff on the windowsill, casting some long and weird shadows all around the room: it was almost time for dinner, but they didn't seem to care.  
"So, you had another Jessica in your life." the woman said softly.  
"Yeah..." Sam put on a bittersweet smile "...she reminded me of you, when I met her, not only because of the name. She was smart, funny and strong."  
His voice slightly cracked, so his sister smiled back in a comforting way, hoping to ease his pain, even just a little.  
"I'm so sorry about what happened to her, Sammy. I truly am." she whispered "And even if I know it's not much of a consolation, I'm sure she is in a better place now."  
"Do you really believe that?"  
"I do."  
The man nodded.  
"Me too."  
After that statement, they both quieted down for a moment, staring at each other.

Sam was trying to compare his childhood memories of her with the woman who was sitting in front of him, in her white silky shirt and with her long hair framing a face which, he noticed, hadn't changed as much as one would expect after more than a decade.  
She was looking more sad than she was back then, but her eyes were just like they used to be: big, sweet and full of love.  
Jess, on the other hand, was completely blown away by how different her little brother was looking now.  
His height, his hair, his much more squared jaw: he was a man now, nothing like the child he was the last time they had seen one another.  
She let out a little sigh at that point, before speaking again, relaxing against the back of the chair and giving him one deep, evaluating glance.  
"God, you changed so much." she said, before that her smile started to fade a bit "...and I've missed it all."  
"I'm really not that different."  
"Are you kidding me?" Jess raised an eyebrow, like asking him if he was serious about it "You're a freaking giant. I feel like a smurf standing next to you."  
Sam chuckled.  
"But it's not just that, I mean... you were a skinny, nerdy kid the last time i saw you."  
"I'm still a nerd." he affirmed, kinda proudly.  
"I'm sure you are." it was her turn to laugh now "But now you grow a beard, Sammy. You drive, you drink alcohol and I wasn't there to see you turn into a man."  
Again, she stopped talking for a second.  
"It hurts." she then added, lowering her face to look down at her own hands, clasped together on top of the table.  
Reacting instinctively, Sam reached out and surrounded one of her hands with his fingers, giving it a good squeeze and trying to make eye contact again.  
"You're here now, okay? So let's just focus on that." he told her, with a soft voice, hoping to make her feel better.  
Jess looked back up at him and when he smirked at her, she couldn't avoid doing the same.

But then, she felt her own voice cutting through the air before she could rationally think about it.  
"You didn't look surprised about what I told you." his sister said "I mean, about John and what he did to me. Dean, I think he would rather shoot himself than accepting it, but you... you believe me." she added "Why?"  
He immediately put on a very serious expression, which made him look way older than he actually was, but he didn't let go of her hand.  
"Because when I refused to let him drag me around any longer, instead of trying to understand, he pushed me away too." he told her "When I left for college, he never called me. Not even once, in like two years or so. Dean was the only one to care enough to check on me, from time to time. So yeah, I can totally see Dad doing such a thing. And if I could, I would gladly punch him in the face for it."  
Jess returned the hand squeeze.  
"But he's gone..."  
Sam nodded, now finally letting her go and leaning back in his chair again.  
"And he left us this massive amount of crap to deal with. Typical."  
The woman gave him an understanding look.  
"I'm sure we'll be able to solve it." she stated, including herself in the equation "Well, assuming that I'll manage to make your brother listen to me, since right now he seems to totally hate my guts."  
"He doesn't hate you, Jess." he said "He's confused and he's still mourning Dad, he's not ready to accept that the man who just saved his life is responsible of something like this. But trust me, all he needs is some time."  
Sam took a deep breath, before going on.  
"I remember how he reacted when Dad told us that you had left. To lose you, it broke him. He would lock himself in the bathroom, at night, crying his heart out." he continued "Of course if you should ask him now, he would probably deny it, but I remember it, because it kinda shocked me. He was my badass big brother, sassy and tough, so I wasn't used to see him that emotional."  
Jess kept listening to him, feeling the lump in her throat grow bigger and bigger every second, but she didn't interrupt him.  
She had no idea about what had happened after they had been separated, so all of that was new to her. And every single detail that Sam was adding to the picture, was making her feel more miserable than ever.  
"So, you see, he's angry and we both know that he's not the best at dealing with this kind of stuff. But he will come around. I will talk with him and if you should decide to stick around for a while, that could help..."  
His sister widened her eyes in surprise.  
"For a while?" she asked, an amused huff escaping her lips "I'm not going anywhere, Sammy. I won't lose you ever again, you hear me? Neither of you. So yeah, Dean will have to get used to the idea."  
Sam giggled again.  
"He will." he was sure of it "He just need to put aside his stupid Ego for a moment, but I know Dean. We're family, and family means everything to him. He will remember how much he loves you. He forgave me for leaving, so he will see reason this time too."  
"I really hope so." she answered, before smiling at him once more, but this time she smiled with her eyes too, not just with her lips, and her whole face lit up "I still can't believe you went to Stanford. Kiddo, I'm so proud of you!"

Sam hold his breath for half a second.  
Those last few words had such a strong impact on the younger Winchester, that he himself was surprised by it: it struck him like a lightning and it made him feel all warm inside, just like a child after receiving the greatest present ever.  
Sam suddenly felt so genuinely happy, hearing his big sis saying that, that he needed a moment to fight the urge to stand up and crush her in a hug.  
Man, he had missed her so much.  
Finally, he managed to remember that he was 22 years old now and he looked down, hiding behind his hair, blushing furiously.  
"Thanks..." he murmured.

Luckily for him, Bobby appeared right on time to interrupt the conversation, saving him from that embarrassing situation and giving him a reason to change the subject.  
"Hey, do you have any idea about where that other idjit is?" the older man asked them, reaching the fridge and opening it to grab a beer.  
"He told me he was going to get a shower, like... three hours ago." Jess said.  
"And now he's probably brooding somewhere, avoiding us." Sam added, shrugging.  
Bobby gave them both a weird look.  
"I didn't mean that. The car's gone." he informed them, much to their surprise.  
"What?" Sam quickly stood up and he peeked outside: the Impala was not in front of the porch anymore "Oh, come on!" he exclaimed right after, hitting the table with the palm of his hand, in an irritated gesture "He's such a moron!"  
Jess got up too.  
"Why didn't we hear the car starting?" she asked, a bit confused.  
"Because he probably pushed it to the road before turning it on." Sam answered, rolling his eyes "Damn it."  
"Well, maybe he went for a drink or something..." Jess suggested, but both her brother and Bobby shook their heads from side to side.  
"No, we came because Bobby asked us to take care of a little nest not far from here, since he's having problems with his back pain. We were planning to go and deal with it tonight." Sam explained her, while he was already going to the living room to grab his jacket "I have to go after him. He goes full Rambo, when he's upset. Bobby, does that crappy museum piece of yours work?"  
"Hey, my truck is not a crappy...!" the old man started to protest, but Jess cut him short.  
"Forget it. We'll take my bike, it's faster." she said, putting on her jacket too "Do you know exactly where the fangs are staying?"  
Sam looked at her, clearly not sure about what to do.  
"We had a couple of options in mind, but Jess..." he hesitated "...do you remember how to do this? I mean, it's been some time. I don't want you to get hurt."  
The freezing stare she gave him, made him shut his mouth immediately and despite his size, he suddenly felt like when he was five and he was in trouble for not wanting to finish his meal.  
"You don't forget this kind of stuff." she stated, with a stern voice "And i never completely stopped hunting, anyway. I stopped looking for trouble, but every time I've stumbled in some supernatural crap too big to ignore, I've taken care of it. So a bunch of vamps won't be much of a problem. Let's go!" she concluded.  
Sam bit his tongue when he realized he had been about to answer with a "Yes, ma'am", and he nodded instead.

So, they both ran outside, followed by Bobby's voice.  
"I have some old spare helmets in the garage. Take one, Sam!" he yelled at him "Last thing we need is your coconut smashed on the road!" he added, before snorting loudly, cursing in his mind.  
Those stupid Winchesters, always acting like that and keeping him worried.  
He listened to Jess' bike starting to roar on the driveway, so loud that every bird and bug around stopped making any sound for a moment, but after a few seconds everything went silent again: they were gone.  
Bobby hoped for the best and he decided that, as soon as they would come back, he would probably kick Dean's ass so hard that even his ancestors would feel it.

 

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The next chapter will arrive very soon! 

Please, comment if you liked it... or even if you hated it. Every commentary is precious to me^^


	3. "Truth hurts"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a joint effort to take out a little vampire's nest, the three Winchesters must face the situation they are in and try to put back together what's left of their broken family.  
> Especially Dean.
> 
>    
> All comments are more than welcome!^^

Dean realized he was screwed when two more vampires jumped on him from above, making him fall and roll over on the floor of that old barn: surely they had been hiding on the wooden loft, in the straw.  
He had took down three of them pretty quickly, fueled by his anger and armed only with his machete, but his impulsive attack had already costed him more than a few scratches.  
The deep cut on his left forearm was bleeding profusely, he had dirt and blood all over his face, which didn't make any easier to have a clear vision, and he was having some trouble breathing, he realized once he managed to get back on his feet.  
One of those suckers had hit him on his chest with a huge metal bar, before he could cut his head off, probably damaging one or more of his ribs.  
“Just great...” he grumbled, coughing and spitting out a mouthful of saliva and blood, before lifting up his blade once more, looking at the remaining vamps, who were now growling, showing off their sharp fangs and moving toward him, one on each side.  
Dean tightened up the grip on the machete and he put on his most cocky grin, deciding that if he was going down that night, he would do it covered in vampire guts.  
“Come on, guys.” he provoked them “Don't be shy, let's dance!”

The bigger creature let out a roar and then charged him like a bull, dodging Dean's blade and hitting him with his whole body, slamming the human against the wall behind them and pinning his right arm on the rotting wooden beams, so he couldn't move too much.  
The impact was so strong that the middle Winchester gasped for air and he almost let his weapon fall, while the vampire immediately tried to find his way to his neck, ready to chew him down.  
Dean struggled with him, pushing the monster's chest with his injured arm to try and keep him at bay, but to no avail: the fangs were now so close to his jugular that he could feel the vamp's breath on his skin.  
And he clearly saw the other creature getting closer too, ready to feast on him with his "friend".  
What a crappy way to die, he thought.

It was exactly at that moment that a thin arm wrapped in a leather sleeve suddenly surrounded the vampire's neck, pulling him back and making him release his prey with an animal-like grunt.  
Dean took a deep breath, now that he could move again and he focused on the scene that was taking place in front of him.  
Jess had managed to pull away the vamp who was trying to bite him, while Sam was fighting with the other one just a few feet away.  
He lifted up his armed hand, ready to go and help them... but it was immediately clear that none of them was actually in need of assistance.  
His brother gave a powerful push to the other vamp to make him back off and, as soon as the monster came running toward him again, he used his blade to cut off his head with a single stroke, like many other times.  
Meanwhile,his sister managed to deliver a precise kick on the back of the knees of the creature she had grasped by the neck, forcing him to kneel on the floor before letting him go, and beheading him with her own machete immediately after: blood squirted all around.  
In less than a few second, it was all over.

The younger man looked at his older brother, frowning in disapproval.  
“You okay?” he asked anyway, approaching Dean and reaching out for his shoulder, wanting to check on him.  
The woman looked down at her jacket and at the front of her white shirt, which was now completely soaked in disgusting vampire's juice, and she let out an irritated groan.  
“I'll never wash this off...” she complained, before turning to face her siblings “Are you still in one piece?” she also asked Dean, with the same unhappy voice tone as Sam.  
“I'm perfectly fine.” Dean abruptly answered to both questions, pushing away Sam's hand and glaring at them “And I didn't need any help, anyway.”  
Jess simply huffed, rolling her eyes, but Sam tensed up all the muscles in his body, staring at his brother like if he was ready to beat him up.  
“That guy was about to rip your throat, you dumbass!” he yelled at him “You should thank us. You should thank her!”  
"I had it all under control!" Dean shouted back, even if deep down he knew that the other man was right.  
"Yeah, sure!" Sam threw him a killer look "Because you're freaking Dean Winchester, who can go and take care of all the vampires of the world alone, right?! Why didn't you wait for me? We had a plan!"  
"Because you were too busy with your little tea party when I left!" the older brother pushed the younger one aside with one hand, walking toward the barn's door "Get off my way."  
Sam seemed about to explode now, so Jess moved quickly and she stepped in front of him, putting herself between the two guys and raising a hand to lay it on her baby brother's chest, to stop him from following Dean and probably kick him in the ass.  
"Sammy, don't." she told him, calmly "Let him cool off."  
The tall man looked down at her and snorted, but her presence and her controlled attitude helped him to relax, so he gave a nod and they too started to walk, ready to leave that place and go back to their vehicles.

Once they reached the Impala and Jess' bike, both parked on nearby secondary road, the three Winchesters stopped.  
None of them had said a single word on the way back, but now the silence was starting to become unpleasant.  
The woman get to her bike and she grabbed her helmet, but she didn't put it on yet, holding it with both hands and slowly spinning it like if she was trying to buy some time, playing with it.  
Dean walked straight to the driver side of his beloved car and he opened up the door, apparently ready to leave.  
But Sam seemed to be caught in the middle, unsure about what to do.  
He was incredibly mad at his brother, both for leaving on his own and for acting up like a total ass with them, but he was also worried about the nasty cut he had on his arm.  
So a part of him wanted to ride with Dean, to keep an eye on him, but the other one just wanted to tell him to get lost and to go back with Jess.  
He hated that whole situation with all his heart.

After a moment, their sister was the first one to spoke, breaking the impasse.  
"So, did I at least earned myself five minutes of your precious time?" she asked out loud, clearly talking with Dean.  
She was now staring at him and the man turned his head to look back at her, this time: the only source of light was a streetlight on the other side of the road, so they couldn't see each other very well... but they both could tell that the other one was frowning deeply.  
At first, Dean didn't looked like he was going to say anything, and once more Sam felt the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him like a piñata, but then he finally answered... and he make things even worst.  
"I have to go back, Bobby is probably wondering where the hell are we." the man said, in a cold voice "You do what you want, Sam." he then added, ignoring Jess once again and getting into the car right after.  
She closed her eyes for a second, like if she was trying to hold on and pushing back the tears, but soon after she went back at looking at Sam and she did her best to smile at him.  
"Go with him. Make sure that he cleans up that wound." she told him, softly.  
"But Jess..."  
"It's okay, Sammy." she interrupted his protests "I'll go back to town and I'll check in in that motel near the park. I need a shower, anyway. And some vodka, I think. I'll call you tomorrow, I promise."  
Her brother pressed his lips together, wanting to say something to make her feel better, but not knowing what.  
So at the end, he simply nodded.  
"Fine." he said "We'll talk tomorrow, then... goodnight, Jess."  
"Goodnight."  
And with those last few words, they parted again.

She put on her helmet and a moment later her bike darted down the road, vanishing into the night, while he was entering the car, sitting down next to Dean.  
"Don't you dare to try and talk to me." Sam growled at him, closing the passenger's door, noticing how the other man had already opened up his mouth.  
That stopped Dean from saying anything he had planned to say and the shorter man furrowed his brows even more, annoyed by his younger brother's demeanor.  
"No problem." he grumpily mumbled, starting the car.  
That was going to be a long drive...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When the needle pierced through the skin, Dean gritted his teeth and looked the other way, before grabbing his glass of whiskey from the table with his free hand, gulping down what was left in it.  
Bobby was patching him up and,even if he was doing his best to stay still and pretend it was not a big deal, his wounded arm was throbbing in pain.  
They were both sitting at the kitchen table, while Sam was on the couch in the adjacent living room, glancing over to them from time to time, with a book in his hand which he was not actually reading.  
The house was silent, since apparently none of them was in the right mood for conversation, and the only sound that could be heard was the distant barking of some neighbour's dog.

After a little while though, the older man seemed to be done with his task and he stood up to go and wash his hands in the sink, letting out a huff.  
"Now keep it clean, you idjit." he told Dean, who nodded.  
"Thanks, Bobby."  
"Don't thank me. Thank your luck and your siblings." he said, moving to the fridge and opening it, to grab a cold beer "You could have been dead by now."  
Dean rolled his eyes and he proceeded to pour himself some more liquor.  
"Spare me the lecture, I could have managed the situation by myself anyway."  
"Oh, really?!" Sam gave him a look filled with reproach, putting aside his book and turning around so he could stare at his brother from across the room "Because to me, it looked like you were about to be drained, when we walked in. But maybe it was just one of your clever stunts and you were about to kill the vamp with some magic trick that we common folks don't understand, uh?"  
"Sam, you better shut your hole."  
"Or what, Dean?"

The two brothers exchanged a fierce look, like two animals ready for a fight, but before things could escalate too much, Bobby slammed the fridge's door hard enough to make the glass bottles in it shake and clink, catching their attention.  
The bearded hunter was now looking at them with an irritated expression on his face, which made him look even older than he was.  
"Stop squabbling like little girls! I'm sick of this." he let out "You need to talk about what's going on, like it or not."  
"That's what I'm trying to do!" Sam protested "If only he would listen to me or to Jess, we could..."  
"WELL, I DON'T WANNA LISTEN!" Dean jumped up, raising his voice in a burst of rage "Why on earth should I do that?! We're fine just like we are. We don't need her, Sam, we're good like this. It's only you and me, why should I even care?!"  
"Because she's our only sister and Dad acted like an asshole with her!"  
"You don't know that! You only know what she told you!" Dean went on, his green eyes fixed on his brother's "How can you know she's not making stuff up? Why should I believe anything she says, after so many years?!”

"Because she's telling the truth, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Bobby almost shouted at that point, in the most exasperated way, interrupting the argument and gaining a couple of pretty surprised looks from them.  
Both men kept silent for a second, while the older guy tried to calm down, before going back to his chair to sit down again, a heavy sigh escaping from his lips.  
"I told myself I would not get involved, but this is getting ridiculous..." Bobby murmured, slowly shaking his head from side to side.  
He looked tired, all of a sudden.  
So, he opened up his beer and he took a long sip from it, trying to find the right words to use, before deciding to start talking again.  
"Listen, boys..." he began "...John was one of the best hunters I've ever met and he was also a pretty decent guy, most of the time. But as a father, he sucked. And I mean, really, really sucked."  
Dean clenched his jaws and he bit his tongue not to snap at the older man, slowly letting himself fall back into his chair and grabbing his glass so tight he could almost feel his fingers hurt.  
Sam, on the other hand, gave out a little snort and simply waited for the rest of the story, because clearly Bobby was not done.

"When Jess turned twenty-one, he sent her out on a job to keep her busy and while she was gone, he took you two away." Bobby continued "He changed all his aliases, he convinced a lot of other hunters not to give her any information on his whereabouts and he did his best to keep you apart from her." he explained.  
"But..." much to his own surprise, Dean noticed that his voice was now sounding a little shaky, but he just couldn't help it "...why?"  
Bobby gave him a quick glance, feeling sorry for the boy, since it was quite obvious that he was struggling to accept his words.  
"Because she wanted him to stop." he explained "They had been arguing about it for over a year, John told me so. Your sister, she wanted to rent a house, find a regular job and keep you two with her. You know, sending you to school, have a normal life, like the other kids. She didn't want you to become hunters. So when your father realized that she would not give up and that she was ready to fight him about it, he decided to let her go on her own way and to take you back on the road with him...but to do so, he had to make sure that she couldn't track him down. And she tried, boys, she tried so hard. She looked for you during years, chasing you around like a hound after a rabbit."

When Bobby took a brief pause, both Dean and Sam kept looking at him in complete silence.  
The younger brother had already heard that same story from their sister earlier that day, so he was coping with it without much effort, but Dean... he was looking devastated.  
He was staring at Bobby with widened eyes now, his mouth slightly open in disbelief: his face was a mask of pure confusion.  
"I don't get it..." he whispered after a moment "...if you knew about all this, why you never told us?" he then asked, now with a clear hint of hostility in his voice.  
A major part of his life was crumbling in front of him like a sand castle wiped away by the sea and to discover that one of his most trusted friends, one of his mentors, had kept such a secret from him was making him feel completely miserable.  
Bobby sighed: Dean was clearly hurt by the discovery and he couldn't blame him.  
"Back then, I was sure that John and Jess would figure it out within a few weeks, at the most. And I thought that it wasn't my business, anyway. You know, it's never a good idea to stick your nose into someone else's family problems." the older hunter said "Then, time started to pass, John stopped coming by more than once or twice a year and he never wanted to talk about it. I tried to make him see reason, in a couple of occasions, but it was pointless. As for your sister, I did my best to help her out every time she came here, but your father knew that she was coming to see me from time to time, so he stopped telling me where he was and what he was working on, just to avoid that I could pass her the info.”

Once again, a veil of silence fell on the room.  
Each one of the three men in there could easily hear the others breathing and for a second, everything seemed completely still.  
Sam gazed over at his brother and he realized that he was no longer feeling mad at him, because anger had slowly switched places with pity.  
He had had the whole day to process the news and, in any case, his opinion of John Winchester was way less flattering than Dean's.  
He knew that their old man was a hero to his brother, despite all his flaws, so he could only guess just how deep this whole story was carving into the other man's heart.  
A part of him almost wanted to stand up and to go give him a hug, but he was pretty sure that Dean would probably punch him in the face if he should do that, so he didn't move from the couch.

As for the older of the two Winchesters in the room, he was currently watching every single good memory of his father crack and fall into pieces in his mind, like hundreds of broken mirrors scattered around his feet.  
He was trying so hard to keep up a straight face, but there was something roaring inside his chest now, a big, angry and sad beast who was crying out loud and fighting to get out.  
How could he face something like that?  
Such a lie.  
And how, he suddenly asked himself, was he supposed to fix the mess he had made, now?  
Everything he had said to her, all the poison he had spat to her face, refusing to listen.  
Refusing to believe.

"Bobby, I need you to tell me everything." Dean finally spoke again, almost begging the other hunter to keep talking "What else do we not know? I mean..."  
The older man shook his head in a clear "no", stopping him before he could go on.  
"Sorry Dean, I've already said more than I was planning to tell you. It's not my place to talk about this, if you want the details, well... you know which door you have to knock on." Bobby told him, putting both hand palms on the table top and pushing himself up once again, apparently ready to leave.  
"But..."  
"No buts. I don't know much more about it anyway. And I'm not your nanny, so if you expect me to sing you a lullaby and tuck you into bed to make you feel better, sorry to disappoint you." the usual grumpy Bobby they had knew all their life seemed to be back in charge and, for some reason, Sam found that weirdly comforting.  
Dean, on the contrary, didn't looked too happy about it, but he didn't argue.  
"Now I'm going to get some shut-eye and you should do the same, if you listen to me." the older man concluded, before moving across the living room and toward the staircase "And keep it quiet, tomorrow morning. If you two wake me up before the alarm goes off, I'll shoot you."  
With that pretty rough version of a "goodnight", Bobby disappeared upstairs, leaving the brothers alone.

"Dean. Are you okay?" Sam asked his sibling, gazing at him "If you need to talk, I'm here, you know."  
In what looked like a rerun of Bobby's gesture from a moment before, the shorter man shook his head from side to side too.  
"It's fine, Sammy. I'm good." he lied, knowing that they were both aware of it "You go and have some sleep. I'll crush here on the couch, I think. Just wanna finish my drink."  
With a sigh, the younger brother stood up, nodding.  
He knew Dean, it was pointless to push him to talk, when he was in such a gloomy mood: he would be the one to let him know when the right time was, like always.  
"All right. I'll see you in the morning, then."  
Sam walked to reach the stairs too, but unlike Bobby, he stopped on the first step to look back at the other man and he gave him one last glance.  
"Just so you know, she's not mad at you." he told him, since he could easily imagine how Dean would kick himself over and over for how he had behaved with their sister "Try to rest, okay? Things will look less crappy in the morning."  
Sam didn't get any answer to that last attempt to make Dean feel better, so he decided to let him be and he left too.

Once alone, the middle Winchester took a deep breath and he stretched out a hand to grab the whiskey bottle on the kitchen table, throwing a look at the empty glass in front of him.  
The minute after, he was cautiously draping himself over the worn out couch, minding his stitched arm and holding the liquor bottle against his chest, like if it was something precious.  
He knew that he would need some help to put his mind to rest and manage to sleep, that night.

 

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The last chapter will be uploaded very soon^^

Please, comment if you liked it.  
Let me know what you think about it!

**Author's Note:**

> These stories (I'm planning to write a few) will be something halfway between a "What If" scenario and an "AU" setting, in which the Winchesters have an older sister who grew up with them, taking care of them for years, before vanishing on her 21st birthday, apparently abandoning them.  
> My version of the Supernatural story will mainly focus on the damaged relationship between Jess and the boys, slowly explaing what happened back when she "left".  
> But there will be also plenty of space for fun, friends, foes, weapons, spells and, of course, monsters!
> 
> You will meet a lot of the Canon characters from the show, plus some new faces, and even if I will mostly keep the existing relationships between the characters as they are, some minor changes will indeed happen.  
> The story starts at the beginning of Season 2 and I'm planning to follow the Winchesters all the way to the end, writing at least one original "episode" for each season... but probably more.  
> We'll see.
> 
> Please, note that english is not my first language, so I apologize in advance for any possible mistake. I try to do my best.  
> I will really appreciate any commentary, any question and any suggestion, so feel free to write whatever you want: I don't bite^^


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